Todd Naber is used to waiting.
First the railway hopper cars he ordered from Canadian National Railway didn’t arrive. Now the remedy for that slight has yet to be delivered.
On May 29 the Canadian Transportation Agency ruled that CN did not provide Naber Seed and Grain Co. with the statutory level of service it was entitled to receive between Sept. 3, 2000 and Nov. 22, 2000. Naber is a special crops processor in Melfort, Sask.
The agency ordered the two parties to negotiate a service arrangement and to file the details of that arrangement no later than 60 days from the date of the decision.
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Five months later Naber is still awaiting the resolution of his complaint.
Naber and CN have tried to negotiate a service arrangement to no avail. The two parties even used a mediator, but that failed too.
Now it’s back in the hands of the transportation agency – along with another complaint filed by Naber. It’s his third complaint against the railway and it comes on the back of two victories.
His most recent victory was seen as a triumph for the entire special crops industry, which has been complaining about inadequate rail service for years.
But Naber is still trying to find out exactly what he won and he’ll have to wait a little longer.
“The agency is of the view that a hearing is necessary to properly dispose of the issues raised by the past two complaints,” said agency spokesperson Sophie Boisvert.
The public hearing will be held in Saskatoon early in 2002. In the meantime, both parties have been instructed to file documents pertaining to Naber’s most recent complaint, which alleges a breach of CN’s statutory service obligations for the grain weeks between Nov. 26, 2000 and April 21, 2001.
Naber Seeds declined to comment on either complaint because both cases are still before the agency.
All CN would say is that it is preparing a response to the agency.
But some of CN’s and Naber’s submissions to the agency following the May 29 decision were recently outlined by the agency in a letter advising the two parties of the hearing.
The letter states that shortly after the agency recognized the complaint could not be resolved independently, Naber Seeds filed a letter asking that CN be ordered to grant running rights on its track to the Hudson Bay Railway Co.
Naber wants that railway to be able to service his processing facilities in Melfort and Star City, Sask., instead of CN.
CN said Naber’s running rights proposal is “predicated on the false notion that CN must meet all transportation requests submitted by (Naber Seeds) without consideration of the needs for other grain shippers.”
CN also argued that since the complaint period outlined in the May 29 decision, the railway has resolved any breach of its common carrier obligations and that no further relief is required.
“CN alleges that since the complaint period it has allocated cars to (Naber Seeds) equitably relative to CN’s other grain customers shipping non-administrated grains,” states the agency letter dated Oct. 22.
The hearing in Saskatoon will address that issue as well as collecting evidence on Naber’s latest allegations and on the issue of whether running rights are an appropriate remedy for the last two complaints.
